Wash. man gets life for 1957 slaying of Ill. girl

A Washington man convicted in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl has been sentenced to life in prison.

Judge James Hallock sentenced 73-year-old Jack McCullough at a hearing Monday in Sycamore, the small community where Maria Ridulph (RIHD'-uhlf) was abducted and killed in December of 1957.

McCullough was convicted in September after a trial in which prosecutors contended that McCullough, then a 17-year-old named John Tessier, approached Ridulph and another little girl outside Ridulph's house. Prosecutors say McCullough abducted and killed Ridulph after the other child ran home.

McCullough was arrested last year in Washington state after some people came forward with information that linked him to the slaying. They included members of McCullough's family.